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SALT LAKE CITY — A slate of Republicans loyal to Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, the winner of the state's presidential preference caucus, has swept nearly all of Utah's delegate slots to the national GOP convention.
The decision to send delegates committed to sticking with Cruz throughout what could be multiple rounds of balloting at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland this July comes as party front-runner Donald Trump continues to rack up more wins.
There was no shortage of delegate candidates at Saturday's state GOP convention pledging to do what it takes to stop the controversial billionaire businessman and reality TV star from winning the party's presidential nomination.
But in the end, Cruz's campaign secured a second victory in Utah.
Cruz won big in Utah's GOP caucus presidential preference election last month, taking all 40 of the state's national delegates, a list that includes three party officials in addition to those chosen Saturday.
On Saturday, nearly 500 Republicans competed for the 37 national delegate and 40 alternate positions available, and all but two went to candidates on Cruz's official slate, assembled by his campaign.
"It seems like the delegates were saying that in Utah, the best way to stop Trump is to vote for Ted Cruz," Utah GOP Chairman James Evans said.
Cruz recorded a message for delegates shown at the state convention held at the Salt Palace Convention Center, and he called Utah's March 22 caucus vote a historic night that gave "fresh momentum to our campaign" in a flier urging support for his slate.
The list included Gov. Gary Herbert, who joined 2012 GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney in endorsing Cruz just before the caucus vote as the best choice to keep Trump from winning the party's nomination outright.
Others on the Cruz slate included Sen. Mike Lee and Reps. Mia Love and Rep. Rob Bishop, all R-Utah; Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox; and state Sen. President Wayne Niederhauser. Romney, who now lives in Utah, did not run to be a national delegate.
Love, who faces a tough challenge from Democrat Doug Owens in her re-election bid this year, had said before she was undecided about going to Cleveland even though she had a prime speaking slot at the 2012 convention.
Now Love is set on attending, her campaign manager, Dave Hansen, said.
"I think it will be good for her. I think she'll have a voice there, and obviously she'll use it as best it helps the state. So I don't have any problems with her going there," Hansen said.
The Sutherland Institute's Boyd Matheson, who has worked for Lee and Love, was also elected to be a national delegate as a member of the Cruz slate. He credited the work of the Cruz campaign with the slate's success in Utah.
"The Cruz people are so well organized. It's what they've done around the country," Matheson said. "That's why Donald Trump is crying foul. That's what you do when you're losing. … You get into this whining thing, that it's not fair."
Utahns appreciate an underdog and a "behind-the-scenes work ethic," Matheson said. And despite Trump's unpopularity in Utah, they also "like to be for things, not against things."
Polls have show Trump would lose to Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders or former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Utah, a state that hasn't voted for a Democrat for president since 1964.
As of Monday, Cruz and the only other candidate still in the race, Ohio Gov. John Kasich, have announced they'll divvy up remaining states to help ensure a contested national convention so a candidate other than Trump could be nominated.
Evans said had the alliance been in place before Saturday's vote in Utah for national delegates, the Cruz slate may not have done as well.
"It might have factored in if delegates could see they were working together," Evans said. "Some of the delegates might have felt it was OK to vote for others."
The only two delegates elected Saturday who weren't on the Cruz slate were Attorney General Sean Reyes and Salt Lake County Councilwoman Aimee Winder Newton. Both were on slates aimed at stopping Trump.
